


Weddings Bells

by moripartylove



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Family, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Just a silly love story, M/M, Pining, marlas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-13
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-11 22:37:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15981965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moripartylove/pseuds/moripartylove
Summary: Martin has been lying to his family about dating a hot airline pilot. A wedding invitation for two forces him to take desperate measures: He asks Douglas to play his boyfriend. Naturally, Douglas jumps at every opportunity to embarrass Martin. But as the day progresses, the line between pretence and reality becomes increasingly blurred...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my wonderful beta Taste_Is_Sweet! :)
> 
> Comments (including critical ones) and kudos are greatly appreciated <3

“So are you going to tell me what’s going on, or are you waiting for me to take a wild guess, Martin?”

Douglas tries to sound blasé, but Martin knows him too well to fall for that. He is clearly dying to find out what his captain has been so nervous about all day. Martin has been trying to act cool, but as is his nature, it has only made things worse. Unable to focus, he has already lost 8 rounds of various word games (not that there’s anything unusual about that, though), and his hands seem to have developed a life of their own: constantly fidgeting with the buttons of his uniform jacket, the edges of his sleeves, and the controls, adjusting and re-adjusting them again and again.

Martin takes a deep breath. There's no other way out. He has to say the words he practised at home. But like so many times before on this flight, he exhales and stays silent. He just can’t do it.

“Did you finally get a job for which you actually get paid, and you’re trying to tell me that the ‘supreme commander’ is going to leave his first officer alone on good old GERTI?”

Martin sinks a little in his seat. Of course Douglas has to bring it up again. Ever since he learned that Martin isn’t getting paid, he's used every opportunity to rub it in his face.

“No, no that’s... That’s not what I was about to tell you. It’s just that... that I, uh...”

Douglas interrupts him, his voice conspirational and approving.

“Oh, Martin! Did you meet someone?”

Martin blushes. A tiny bolt of defensive anger shoots through him.

 “No! No, of course not.”

 _Who would want me?,_ he adds in his thoughts. And suddenly the anger is gone, making room for a quiet sadness. For a moment he forgets what he's trying to tell his first officer, and gravely stares out into the endless horizon stretched ahead of them.

“Hmm. Let’s see," Douglas goes on, apparently oblivious. "What else have we got?" He gasps in mock astonishment. " _Martin_ , are you about to confess that you have feelings for me?”

He grins, though in a friendly way, and Martin feels his ears turn red. Another little rush of panic. He needs to speak now, before this conversation takes an entirely different turn than he planned.

“N-no, it’s, uh, I... I came out to my family!”

“But Martin, that’s wonderful! Congratulations, it was about time.”

For once there’s no hint of teasing in Douglas’s voice, he seems genuinely happy for him. It makes Martin smile for a second in spite of his nerves. _No need to mention I already told them 5 months ago that I’m gay, is there?_

“So how did they react?”

Martin swallows and forces himself to speak. It’s now or never.

“Fine. It was... fine? It’s just... I said... I know I shouldn’t have, but Mum put Simon on the phone and he was... you know, the way he is, and I just wanted to... I don’t even know what I wanted but I told him I was dating another pilot?”

 Martin blurts the words out and takes a deep breath. Another chunk of information disclosed. The second-most difficult one. He can get through this. But then he looks at Douglas and sees the familiar mischievous glimmer in his eyes, and maybe he can’t get through it after all.

“And mind if I ask, which pilot exactly would that be? Out of the, oh I don’t know, _two_ pilots on this airdot?”

He is clearly enjoying this, and Martin can’t even blame him. How could he be so stupid and think he’d get away with a lie like that? But how could he not? He’s Martin, and it seems to be in his genes to make a giant mess out of every situation he ever gets into.

Unlike Douglas, who’s always in control, who gets away with absolutely anything. Why can’t he be more like Douglas?

Maybe Martin can still fix it though, without having to humiliate himself even more. It’s not too late. He can call his family and tell them... Tell them they broke up. They won’t even know he lied. Except they would, wouldn’t they? And Simon will make him feel small and useless no matter what. For lying, or for not being able to keep a relationship alive for more than 6 months. He just _can’t_ show up to the wedding alone.

The door bursts open just when Martin starts to answer Douglass’ question, determined to finish this with as much dignity as possible.

“I meant no one in particular, I just made someone up because...”

“Hey, Skip! Hey, Douglas! Mum is asking what you want for lunch! Are you playing something about making people up? Can I play too? I’m really good at making people up!”

Martin smiles at Arthur’s enthusiasm. He can be exhausting to be around sometimes, but really he’s a joy and Martin secretly admires his untarnished delight in life, his ability to enjoy even the littlest of things to the fullest. An idea dawns on him. Maybe... Maybe he could ask Arthur instead of Douglas? Arthur loves helping. He would be happy to help. Literally.

 “Martin just started a new game," Douglas says cheerfully. “Let’s call it: 'Inventing Imaginary Friends'.”

“Oooh, brilliant!" Arthur looks gleeful. “Can I have a go? I think I’d be really good at it! I had loads of imaginary friends when I was little! My favourite was Polly. She was a frog, but a frog that could speak, like in a cartoon. And she always cheered me up when the other kids were mean to me. And then there was Bob, the pony, and he...”

While Arthur babbles on, an image flashes through Martin’s mind: Arthur, in a pilot’s uniform, at Caitlin’s wedding. Telling Simon about Polly the frog. Martin sighs. Maybe not a good idea after all.

“...And there was also Benny, and Milly, and oh! Annie! I almost forgot Annie! Annie was _brilliant_!”

Douglas cut him short.

“Yes, Arthur, thank you, we get the picture. What are the options for lunch today?”

They sort out the menu and Arthur leaves, still beaming with the memory of Annie. Martin immediately misses his presence, especially as he feels Douglas’s eyes burning into the side of his face.

“So. Where were we? Ah. Your imaginary boyfriend.”

“He’s not imaginary, I’m not like Arthur. I just, ah, I just made him up so Simon doesn’t think I’m a total loser and now I don’t know what to do because Caitlin invited me to her wedding in two weeks. _U_ _s,_ she invited us. Me and my, um, boyfriend. My _attractive pilot boyfriend for heaven’s sake_ and I don’t want to tell them I was lying and I can’t go alone because it will be so humiliating and Douglas _please_ can you help me out? Please?”

Silence stretches across the flight deck as Martin tries to catch his breath and not think too much while he waits for a reaction. Douglas is calmly looking straight out of the windshield into the light blue sky, his hands resting idly on the controls. But Martin sees the corner of his mouth perk up a little. _I knew it. He’s going to make me beg._


	2. Chapter 2

And beg he makes him. Douglas enjoys every second of it, taking his time pretending to think it over, pretending that it would be a huge sacrifice for him that Martin offers to compensate for with any favour he can think of: first pick at the cheese tray for a whole year; free access to Martin’s van service whenever he pleases (oh that will come in handy with some, let’s call it 'friendly exchanges of gifts' he has planned); Martin doing all the walk-arounds for practically an infinite amount of time... In the end, Douglas generously agrees to help Martin out - in exchange for all of the above. And considering the day promises to be fun anyway – well, more fun than sitting alone in his empty house in which everything reminds him of Helena – Douglas is entirely pleased with himself. Plus, there’ll be free food. What’s not to love?

The next two weeks pass quickly. They don’t talk much of the wedding, but Douglas can tell that Martin is nervous and wants nothing more than for the day to be over. Douglas knows that Martin has always had a strained relationship with his siblings, especially with Simon. Even without presenting his family with his fake-boyfriend-colleague, a family gathering of this kind would be enough to give Martin sleepless nights. Douglas almost feels a bit guilty for taking advantage of the situation for his own amusement. But there’s no harm in having a bit of fun, is there? Martin can take a joke, god knows he’s used to it. Still, Douglas decides to take it a bit easy when Simon is around, and to keep an eye on Martin to make sure he’s alright.

On the morning of the wedding day, they're sitting in Douglas’s car in their best suits, on their way to Wokingham. Martin, for once, isn't the commander of their vessel but tensely pressed against the passenger door. He looks like he's about to be sick.

“Martin, are you sure you’re alright? I can pull over if you want. We still have time...”

Martin insists he is fine, but he doesn’t look it.

“Remember, Douglas, don’t talk to people more than necessary. Just... be there. We’ll leave as early as we can. We can say I’m not feeling well? I mean, I’m really not, it’s not even a lie!”

“Martin, calm down. It’ll be fine! I’ll be my charming successful perfect self. They’ll love me. Everyone does.”

Martin turns his head to look at Douglas for the first time since they got into the car. 

“I know. I don’t doubt that. It’s just... I’m just scared that something will go wrong. Somehow.”

“Why would something go wrong?”

“Because it always does! For me, anyway. Things never work out for me. I’m not..." Martin sighs. “I’m not like you, always getting away with anything, always the winner.”

“Aha. But see, for me things always do work out.” Douglas grins at him. “And today you’re with me. So I guess you’re in luck.”

Martin smiles at him. And he seems to relax a bit.

“Thank you, Douglas.”

They share a look, and a warm feeling spreads in Douglas’s stomach. This isn't how he'd imagined the day would start. He'd thought he'd be making fun of Martin’s nervousness and the situation he got himself in for every minute of the car ride – he’s saved it up especially for today, mostly - but now, seeing Martin like this, he genuinely wants him to know that it’ll all be okay.

And it will be. Douglas will just have to find a way to juggle both: impressing the awful family and embarrassing Martin just a tiny bit in the process. Just enough to make the afternoon worthwhile.

“Douglas?”

Douglas hums in response, still lost in his contemplation.

“We don’t have to actually... do anything. You know that, right? I mean like hold hands, or touch in any other way, or –“

Douglas interrupts him and deadpans: “Kiss?”

Martin blushes. “No. Yes. I mean, exactly. We don’t have to do anything at all. In fact we shouldn’t, definitely not! I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear earlier. I hope you didn’t worry that you’d... have to. But anyway! I’ll just introduce you as my boyfriend and we say we met through work and that’s all, right? That should work?”

“Yellow car!” Douglas crows as one passes, bopping Martin in the shoulder.

“Douglas!”

“What? I’m listening, but there was a yellow car, and you _always_ play yellow car. Don’t worry, Martin. It will be _fine_.”

 

***

 

The rest of the journey passes pleasantly enough. Martin seems to relax a bit, smiling and chatting and looking cute in his dark blue suit (Douglas is mildly irritated with himself for noticing). It took some persuation from Douglas for Martin to wear it – _No you can’t wear your Captain’s uniform, it’s a wedding, Martin!_ – and he has to admit it’s a huge improvement to the ill-fitting uniform and the too large hat that stop the sunlight from catching in Martin's ginger curls.

Douglas works hard to let Martin win at “Places That Sound Creepy For No Reason”. Martin is childlike in his exhilaration when he realises he won, which is, frankly, adorable. Douglas smiles, and realises the warm feeling is back. And that he smiles a lot when he’s with Martin. More than he ever did with Helena.

When they pull into the parking lot next to the church, there’s already a good number of people scattered about, wearing glamorous dresses and smart suits and their biggest smiles. Douglas glances over to Martin, who stares at his family like a deer caught in headlights.

He briefly touches Martin’s arm. “It will be fine,” he reminds him. “Come on. Let’s go and introduce them to your handsome, impressive pilot boyfriend. Let them be stunned into silence.”

Martin gives him a shy smile.

“Douglas, I haven’t really thanked you properly yet. This means a lot. No one has ever done something like this for me. Ever. And frankly, I didn’t think you would. I mean,” he stammers quickly, correcting himself, “I wasn’t sure you’d....” He grimaces. “Well, anyway. Thank you Douglas.”

Martin almost looks like he’s about to cry. Douglas feels a tiny pang of guilt about his plans for amusement today, but he instantly pushes it away.

“Don’t thank me too soon. We haven’t pulled this off yet. But we will, so you can thank me later, _darling_.”

Douglas grins at him, and Martin giggles nervously. “Douglas...”

They share a look, nod, and get out of the car. _Into battle._

 

***

 

Martin’s mum is the only familiar face Douglas can spot as they walk towards the church entrance, which is not surprising, since he’s only met her, Simon and Caitlin before. She looks happier this time, Douglas thinks – again not a surprise, since it's her only daughter’s wedding day - and younger too, in her light blue dress.

He can feel Martin tense up next to him as they approach her and the two elderly ladies she’s chatting with.

“M-Mum? Hi. This is my first off... I mean, my b-boyfriend, Douglas Ritchartson. Douglas, this is my Mum?” He gestures awkwardly between them.

 “Martin, we’ve already met, remember?” Douglas puts on his best smile. “But I'm pleased to see you again, Wendy.”

She barely glances at him, her eyes scanning the ever-growing crowd.

“Hello, Douglas. Martin, have you seen Simon? He wanted to meet us here, he won’t show up late, will he?”

“I don’t know, Mum,” Martin says. He suddenly sounds tired.

“No, I haven’t seen him.”

 “Well, I’ll better call him, then! We can’t possibly start without Simon now, can we?”

And off she goes, rummaging through her purse to find her phone, removing herself from the crowd so she can hear Simon better. Martin briefly looks disappointed, but he pulls himself together.

 “And these are my aunts, Clara and Maggie. My mum’s sisters,” he says at the two women who'd been standing near Wendy. “Um, this is, this is Douglas.”

Douglas greets them and politely kisses their hands. They seem impressed. And curious.

“So, you’re Martin’s... boyfriend?” Clara asks.

Martin opens his mouth to answer, but Douglas beats him to it. _Showtime_.

“Yes indeed. We’ve been together ever since we bumped into each other – literally – on a gay cruise in Florida a year ago,” he launches into his carefully-crafted story, “I almost didn’t recognize him without his captain’s uniform – or any clothes apart from a golden g-string, really – but sure enough, there he was! My captain, lap dancing for some hot muscle chap by the pool! Naturally I got jealous and spent the rest of the cruise wooing him. And well, here we are. A happy couple. Can’t keep our hands from each other, right Martin?”

Martin stares at Douglas in shock, flushing as he tries to find his speech again while the elderly ladies eye him with a mixture of disbelief, curiosity and mild horror.

“I, ah, yes. No. I mean, yes? I guess?”

Douglas has never seen Martin so helpless and embarrassed. It’s immensely satisfying. Not to mention cute.

The church bells interrupt the conversation, and everyone starts to make their way inside. Martin sighs in defeat and whispers to Douglas without looking at him.

“You’re going to humiliate me, aren’t you?”

Douglas smiles smugly.

“Oh, _darling_. I’ve barely begun.”


	3. Chapter 3

In church Douglas keeps putting his hand on Martin’s knee, which Martin plucks away every time as discreetly as he can, grateful that no one sees him blush as all eyes are on the bride and groom. As much as he tries, Martin can’t focus on the pastor’s words, and his sister and her very-soon-to-be-husband blur in his vision. He merely stares into space, waiting for Douglas’s hand to warm his knee again, just to push it off and hiss into his ear to _stop it, Douglas!_ But deep down he doesn't want it to stop. He just wishes Douglas was doing it for more than just to annoy him.

The service seems to last for hours. And yet once it’s over, it feels like it flew by. Martin is equally relieved and regretful to replace the little touches in the dimly lit church with broad daylight and conversation.

But first, everybody gets in line to congratulate the bride and groom. As they approach Caitlin and Thomas, Martin temporarily forgets about The Douglas Situation (as he begins to call it in his mind). For the first time today, and maybe for a much longer time than that, he really looks at his sister. She looks happy, radiant, and he realises only now how rare it is to even see her so much as smile.

Their relationship has never been easy, a lack of bonding and an abundance of trivial rivalry making them as distant as strangers at times, but now Martin feels a love for his sister that he didn’t know he possessed. He’s truly happy for her. And Thomas seems nice enough, as far as Martin can tell by the few encounters they’ve had.

When it’s their turn, Martin hugs them both. “I’m so happy for you. I mean it, I really am, Cat.”

Caitlin tightens her arms around him, holding him for a few more seconds. “I’m happy for you too, Martin.”

She smiles at him and then at Douglas, and Martin feels a pang of guilt for lying to her on this day that's so important.

Next to him Douglas is offering Thomas a hearty handshake, just to be pulled into a hug. “C’mon, we’re family now,” Thomas says. He seems to mean it, and Martin now feels in equal parts guilty and touched. Maybe he misjudged his family after all?

 

***

 

Outside the church everyone lingers and chats, a pause in the day’s proceedings before everyone drives to the community hall for the reception. Martin squints against the daylight that seems unnaturally bright after an hour in the church, and turns to smile at Douglas. It almost feels normal to have him by his side like this; Martin could almost forget that it’s fake.

“Well. That wasn’t so bad, was it, Martin? They almost seem... what’s the word? _Nice._ ”

Douglas smiles at him, and Martin chuckles. Douglas hit the nail on the head, as always.

“Well, I suppose she is? Or can be. Sometimes. Not often though. Usually she isn’t.”

He shuts his mouth, suddenly thinking _I’m rambling like an idiot. Douglas must think I’m an imbecile._

But Douglas steps closer and takes Martin’s hand in his own. Martin feels his knees go weak and momentarily forgets where they are, the whole world shrinking into the brown of Douglas’s eyes.

“ _Of course_ I remember what we did last Valentine’s Day, love muffin! How could I forget?”

Martin snaps out of his trance, humiliated and angry. Not only with Douglas, who _of course_ is just trying to embarrass him in front of all his family members, but mostly with himself. For a _tiny second_ , he _almost believed_ Douglas meant something real.

But it gets worse. Terror grips Martin as he sees a familiar, large figure storm towards him, his voice roaring across the churchyard.

“There he is! My little brother!”

Simon approaches him with outstretched arms and Martin wishes he could disappear into the ground. Oh no, not that. Not again. Not now. But Simon grabs him and starts to lift him up, as he has been doing since they were little, and as Martin has grown to absolutely detest since he was, well, no longer little.

“And up he goe- Hey, what the fuck?!“

Martin, who had his eyes closed in defeat to endure the inevitable, opens them again, and finds that Douglas has grabbed both of Simon’s wrists and is forcibly removing them from Martin’s body. They struggle a bit, but Douglas is stronger, and it only takes a few seconds before Simon gives up. He stands panting, his wrists still in Douglas’s firm grip, and suddenly he looks lost, not knowing how to act when he’s not in control. Martin has never seen him like this. He doesn’t know what to say.

“Now listen carefully, Simon. From now on, if anyone lifts Martin up, it’s _me_. Do I make myself clear?” Douglas’s voice sounds rough and angry _(and why is that so hot, and why is Martin even noticing?!)_.

Simon has recovered quickly and tries to act nonchalant now, but Martin can tell that the unfamiliar event of someone standing up to him has shaken him.

“Sure, man, whatever. Just wanted to hug my little brother, that’s all.”

Douglas lets him go and Simon wanders off, disappearing behind some of the faces that have turned towards their little scene. For once, Martin doesn’t care. He looks at Douglas with genuine gratitude, his anger from mere minutes ago already forgotten.

“Thank you, Douglas.” His voice is soft, and he hopes it conveys how much what Douglas just did means to him.

“You’re welcome. I’ve wanted to do that ever since I first saw Simon lift you up at your Mum’s house, but it seemed out of place for me to step in. Now that I’m your boyfriend however...”

He grins, and Martin chuckles at the absurdity of the situation. In an impulse he reaches for Douglas’s hand. Warm fingers cradle his own, and for a moment they just stand there in silence, their eyes fixed onto each other. And this time, it’s real. Or is it...?

 

***

 

Douglas and Martin share their car with Martin’s mum, Aunt Clara and Aunt Maggie. On the way to the community hall, Mum barely speaks to Martin. She has heard about the incident with Simon and she is clearly not amused. Martin wonders why she blames him when he hadn’t even done anything. She could at least have the decency to blame Douglas, couldn’t she? But then again, everything is always his fault in this family anyway, so it figures.

His aunts make up for her quietness by chatting away happily with Douglas. Martin looks out of the window and tries not to listen. He doesn’t even want to know what Douglas is making up this time. He sighs, thinking about how many hours of this lie ahead of him. The day has only started and it has already confused and exhausted him more than he could have imagined.

In the hall, they share a beautifully decorated round table with Caitlin, Thomas, Mum and Simon. Two framed photographs complete the table: one of Martin’s dad and one of Thomas’s parents. Martin feels sorry for Thomas. As much as he misses his dad and as difficult as his mother can be, at least she is still alive. There’s a moment of silence among the group after they take their seats, everyone’s eyes on the photographs until Wendy turns to look at her only daughter.

“Your dad would be so proud of you. And Simon, how handsome you look in your suit. If only your father could see you kids today!”

Caitlin and Martin share a look. Hers is full of sympathy; his full of all-too familiar sadness and resignation.

***

 

The following hours pass slowly, with what seems like too many speeches, too much food, and far too much sitting around. However, the atmosphere on the table is fairly pleasant, at least on the surface – something Martin attributes to Simon being unusual silent – and there are even moments of genuine laughter and smiles. Caitlin, Thomas, Martin and Douglas get along well, and manage to mostly ignore Mum’s attempts to stir the conversation towards her favourite son.

At the same time, Martin is hyperaware of Douglas’s presence next to him. At first, every time his first officer speaks, Martin braces himself for the next humiliating story. But Douglas seems to have chosen self-restraint, compared to the tale he told his aunts earlier. There are, of course, a few “honey”s and “darling”s that make Martin blush, and a few attempts to hold his hand (Martin actually lets him so as to not raise suspicion, and he tries to ignore his rapid heartbeat while Douglas’s hand is so warm and strong on his own). But that's all Douglas does for a long time, and Martin wonders why Douglas isn't making more of this once-in-a lifetime opportunity.

Naturally, it can't last. When the wedding cake is served, Martin barely manages to stop Douglas from feeding some of it to him. And then there’s the time when they all have to pose for a group photo. Despite Martin’s desperate attempts at discreet protest, Douglas stands behind him and wraps his arms around Martin’s waist, then pulls him close and rests his chin on Martin’s shoulder. The warmth of Douglas’s body and his stubbly cheek against his own are almost too much to handle, and Martin has yet another moment of regretting that he brought Douglas of all people along to play his boyfriend. Although, at the back of his mind, he realises that he isn’t entirely sure why he regrets it. It is because of his family? Or is it because it will be even more difficult now to sit next to Douglas every day and pretend that he's nothing but a colleague?

But for the most part, things are not as awful as Martin has come to anticipate. As the day progresses, he even begins to relax. This isn’t so bad. It’s almost nice, to be sitting here with his family and Douglas, with everyone mostly getting along. And it almost feels like Douglas belongs here, by his side. Holding his hand.

The afternoon turns into evening, and couples of every age are occupying the dancefloor, swaying and giggling and trying not to spill their glasses of champagne. Martin’s glance catches his sister and her new husband, and he smiles at her awkward attempt at dancing. She's never been good at it, and he's been teasing her about it since they were little. Not that he’s any good himself. That’s the one reason he's relieved that he and Douglas are still sitting at the table, listening to Mum rave about the promotion Simon recently got. Or rather, not listening.

“Martin! Martin are you listening? Isn’t it wonderful about Simon’s promotion? My boy, I’m so proud of him. He always works so hard, doesn’t he, Martin?”

Martin tries to suppress a yawn. And fails.

 “Yes, very impressive,” he murmurs. “Congratulations Simon.”

“Very impressive indeed.” Douglas nods. “Although, all things considered, Simon still only sits in an office all day and stares at a screen, while Martin actually manoeuvres 300 tons of metal through the sky, while being responsible for dozens of people’s lives. But still, _very_ impressive, Simon. Congratulations.”

Douglas’s voice oozes with jovial sarcasm, and Martin can’t help but grin a little. Douglas just said exactly what Martin had been thinking but didn’t dare to say out loud. They smile at each other.

“Oh, Martin” Mum sighs, clearly annoyed, “will you please ask Douglas to leave Simon alone?”

Suddenly Martin isn’t entirely sure if she’s annoyed because of Simon's apparent mistreatment, or because of him and Douglas. He realizes only now that he never told Douglas the whole truth about how his family reacted to his coming out.

He'd told Douglas it was “ _Fine”_. That's not a lie -it’s literally what his mother replied when he told her. And while he was relieved that she didn’t have a heartattack or start to cry, he could tell by how quickly she changed the subject that it probably wasn’t as “fine” as she said.

This has been yet another reason why he was anxious to come here today. He hadn't been eager to find out how his mother really feels about him being in love with a man. And now he's angry – again – and hurt, with the painful realization that she's been more or less ignoring his supposed boyfriend all day.

“Why don’t you just ask him yourself? He’s sitting right here!” Martin demands, uncharacteristically snappish with her.

Mum just sighs again and quietly refills her glass of champagne. Meanwhile Simon, who still seems under the impact of today’s earlier events, finds his voice again.

“Ha! Yeah I bet you two are doing lots of really ‘hard work’ up there all day, yeah?”

He makes quote marks around the words “hard work” with his fingers. Martin feels heat rise to his cheeks. This is new. While Simon always manages to put him down, it's usually by side remarks about how his own job is so much more important than Martin’s, making Martin feel like nothing he does really matters. Simon's never been outright aggressively rude to Martin though, at least not since they were kids.

While Simon is a prick in many ways, Martin hadn’t thought he was homophobic. This remark, implying as it does that he and his _First Office_ use their cabin for _sex_ instead of _doing their jobs_ hurts him more than he thinks it should, and he feels very rare, true fury rise up in him and take control.

“What are you implying, Simon?" he snarls, "just because _you're_  wanking in your office all day long...!”

He hears Douglas chuckle beside him, but his eyes are fixed on his brother, who glares at him with a contempt and anger that perplexes Martin. Simon opens his mouth for a retort, but their mother interrupts them.

“Martin! That’s enough! This is a wedding! Can we all just be calm and enjoy ourselves, please?”

Martin suddenly feels tired. He knows there’s no point in arguing with his mother about Simon. Simon is impeccable and Martin is the very definition of flaw, and that is never going to change. He takes a sip of champagne and wonders how much longer they have to stay before they can leave without being rude.

Simon mumbles something about needing fresh air and abandons the table, leaving the three of them in uncomfortable silence. Douglas suggests playing a word game, and Mum glares at him as if he had proposed a round of strip poker. But when she notices how miserable her son looks, her face softens a little.

“Martin, I know you don’t like Simon much, but I wish you'd try to be a bit nicer to him. He loves you so much, and you always push him away! You have no idea how hurt he was by what happened at church earlier. He’s so insecure anyway, and you two had to humiliate him like that in front of everybody!”

“Insecure? Simon?" Martin gapes at her. "He’s the most pompous, arrogant, full-of-himself person I’ve ever met! ” – Martin stops himself and glances sideways at Douglas – “well, almost, anyway. And when has he ever been _nice_ to me? Did you even listen to him just now?”

Martin is suddenly fighting tears, overcome with his mother's critisicm on top of all the usual hurts and humiliation, coupled with the stress of the day. He wipes his eyes and quickly glances around, making sure no one is watching them.

“He shouldn’t have said what he said, but that was his hurt feelings talking. Really, though, Martin, you should hear the way he speaks about you all the time. He adores you. He's always looked up to you, even when you were little. And don’t you know that he’s just trying to impress you with all the talk about his job?”

Suddenly Martin isn’t sure what to make of Simon’s behaviour anymore. It never occurred to him to see it from that perspective: that Simon actually admires him and wants his approval.

But Simon's possible admiration of him doesn't change his mum's behaviour towards Douglas. While Martin's trying to pluck up his courage to address it, his mum beats him to it.

“Douglas, I want to apologize to you. If I’ve been a bit... distant to you today... it’s nothing personal.”

“That’s alright, Wendy,” Douglas says kindly. “It probably takes some getting used to, I imagine, seeing your son with his boyfriend.”

Martin’s heart briefly clenches when Douglas says _boyfriend_ , but he turns his attention to his mother.

“I admit this is not what I imagined Martin’s future to be like. I always thought.... Well, it doesn’t matter now.”

She pauses, then turns to her son.

“But, Martin, all I really want for you is to be happy.” She reaches for his hand across the table, and now Mum is fighting tears too.

 “So, when you said it was fine..." Martain swallows. "You actually meant that?”

“Oh, Martin, _of course_ it’s fine! Didn’t you know that?”

Their tears are flowing now, and Martin feels a weight lifted from him that he hadn’t realised he was carrying. He stands up to give his mother a hug. They hold each other until Douglas, who’s suddenly standing next to Martin, clears his throat.

“So now that that’s settled...” He gently plucks Martin’s hand from Mum’s shoulder and takes it in his own, “...may I ask for this dance, darling?”

Martin glares at him behind his mum’s back.

“Douglas, you know I can’t dance, don’t you? _Darling_?” He utters the last word through his teeth. But Douglas being Douglas, he won’t take no for an answer.

“Oh come on, baby,” he says, grinning,  “It’s our song! Remember how we—”

“Yes! Yes, ok, I’m coming!”

Martin lets go of his mother and quickly pulls Douglas to the dancefloor before he can continue whatever embarrassing nonsense story he made up this time.

Douglas grins, satisfied.

They reach the dancefloor just as the first chorus of Elton John’s “Can you feel the love tonight?” kicks in. All around them couples are tangled up in each others' arms, their bodies pressed together tightly. Before Martin can react, Douglas wraps his arms around him and pulls him close, moving both of them in the rhythm of the music. Martin can feel Douglas’s heartbeat under his cheek that is pressed against Douglas’s chest, and every breath he takes is incensed with Douglas’s cologne.

“I hate you,” he mumbles.

“Love you too, darling,” Douglas replies.


	4. Chapter 4

Martin feels right in Douglas's arms. Douglas is holding him tight, and they're pressed together as they sway to the rhythm of the music among all the others. Douglas tilts his head down a little and feels Martin’s hair tickle his lips. He catches himself smiling at the sensation, and not for the first time today he wonders what has gotten into him. _Look at me, holding him and grinning like an idiot. One could almost think I’m in love with him._

Which of course he isn’t. He isn’t even gay, and he has three ex-wives to prove it. Douglas has reminded himself of that fact multiple times today: every time holding Martin’s hand seemed to make his heart beat faster; every time he noticed something about Martin that he thought was “cute” (which happened much too often for his taste); every time he said the word “darling” and in his ears it suddenly didn’t sound like a joke at all.

Martin moves slightly against his chest, his eyes closed, and lets out a little sigh. He looks perfectly happy. Douglas thinks that either Martin has suddenly developed first class acting skills, or he's forgotten everything around them. It does rather look like he is completely lost in the moment.

And Douglas, too, begins to forget where they are and why they are even here. The man in his arms and the music drown out everything else in his consciousness, and he feels at peace in a way that he hasn’t in a very long time. Involuntarily, his hands begin to caress Martin’s back with movements so small that probably no one but Martin would even notice them. Martin sighs again and reciprocates the gesture. Douglas tries to ignore how good it all feels, makes a faint attempt at convincing himself that he's still acting, but fails completely.

Suddenly, he wishes that it could always be like this, that this moment would never end.

It is not a conscious decision, but suddenly his fingers are running through Martin’s curls. Gently, as if he is scared he might break him. And then, before he knows what he’s doing, he's kissing Martin's lips.

At first, their lips barely touch. There's a moment of sweetly-painful hesitation, with Martin’s breath warming Douglas’s lips while they each wait for the other to break away. When neither does, Douglas kisses him for real, and Martin exhales into the kiss and kisses him back, bringing his hand gently to Douglas’s cheek.

All of a sudden, nothing is confusing anymore. Everything seems so clear and easy. This is how it’s supposed to be. At the back of his mind, this is what Douglas has wanted for a very long time, no matter how much he tried to hide it from himself. His urge to protect Martin from Simon; the countless moments when he would think of Martin and it made him smile; the fact that whenever he was alone he missed Martin more than Helena… It all made sense now.

And then Martin tenses and he breaks the kiss, a look of shock and confusion in his eyes. Douglas feels like an icy needle has just been stabbed into his heart. _Of course_. How could he be so arrogant to assume that just because he wanted to kiss Martin, Martin wanted the same thing? _Now I’ve ruined it all, forever._

Martin opens his mouth as if to say something, but instead he just turns around and rushes out of the room, pushing past people who turn their heads after him. Douglas is left in the middle of the dancefloor, standing in shock and confusion with everyone staring at him, until it dawns on him that he needs to follow Martin.

 

He finds him in the passenger seat of the car, his arms wrapped around himself against the cold of the early March night that has descended. The realisation that he is crying breaks Douglas’s heart, and he curses himself for having caused pain to the one person he cares about more than anyone else. Why couldn’t he just continue like he had before? They were friends, Martin was happy, everything was fine. Now Martin probably hates him and nothing will ever be like it was before.

He gently knocks on the window on the driver’s seat. No reaction. He gets into the car and sits next to Martin, trying to think of something to say that will magically fix all of this. Everything he can think of sounds stupid and trivial. He forces himself to speak anyway.

 “I’m sorry, Martin. I didn’t mean to cross a line...”

Martin interrupts him, suddenly angry.

“Well, you did! Everything is always a game for you, isn’t it? You don’t have any boundaries at all!” His shoulders drop and he turns his face away, staring out into the quiet darkness.

Douglas wishes he could express how much the thought of having violated Martin’s boundaries pains him. He would do anything to take it back, to go back to the dancefloor and just enjoy holding Martin and dance with him, see him happy again.

“Martin, I’m sorry, I...I must have misread your signals. I didn’t realise you were just acting on the dancefloor. I thought you really...." He takes a breath. "I’m sorry.”

“Wait, what?”  Martin looks at him in bafflement, only to just turn away again. “Please. Don't tell me you really wanted to kiss me,” he snaps, though all he sounds is weary and sad. “We both know that was just part of the act.”

“What? No, of course it wasn't!” Douglas blinks, then gapes, horrified. “Did you think I only kissed you to make you uncomfortable?”

Martin stares at Douglas, his eyes wide. “Didn't you?” he asks softly. “But then... I don’t understand...”

“Well that makes two of us,” Douglas says honestly. “The truth is, I don’t know what I feel or what I want anymore.  I came here to have a bit of fun teasing you – you have to admit, it was too good an opportunity for me to give up, and you were so delightfully embarrassed - but then... I don’t know. Something changed. I caught myself holding your hand because I wanted to, not because you _didn’t_ want to. And when we danced,  it just felt so... right, I guess. To have you so close to me. And for a moment I thought you felt the same way, and then I just wanted to kiss you. That wasn’t acting, that was...” He swallows, heart pounding at the hope in Martin's eyes. “That was really just me.”

He looks at Martin shyly, feeling more vulnerable than he has in a long time. He isn’t used to the feeling. It’s like Martin is holding his heart in his hand and can smash it or nurture it like a seedling, help it grow and flourish.

Martin is silent for a while. He looks amazed, like he is overwhelmed by processing the new information. Then, gently, he takes Douglas’s hand.

“It was just me, too. I mean, when I kissed you back. I wasn’t acting, I... I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, actually. I just never thought you would....”

His voice trails off, and for a moment they just sit there and look into each other’s eyes. It's started to rain, and the tapping of the raindrops on the windshield is the only noise that breaks the silence. It's Douglas who finally speaks, his voice hoarse and gentle at the same time.

“Just to make sure there are no more misunderstandings: You’ve wanted to do what, exactly, for a long time?”

“This.”

Martin leans over and kisses him. This time there’s no hesitation, no layers of pretence and uncertainty. In the safety of the car with no one’s eyes on them, Douglas feels calm, certain, and this time everything is clear and simple again.

Well, maybe not _simple_. They haven’t even talked about where they'll go from here, after all, and Douglas is still confused about apparently having feelings for a man. And not just _any_ man, but his colleague and friend. But at the moment none of that matters. This feels like the beginning of something beautiful.

They don’t talk about the future. Not tonight. They just sit quietly in the car and kiss until the rain stops and they remember that they're probably being missed by Martin’s family by now. They contemplate just driving home because neither of them feels particularly like going back inside, but they agree that they at least have to say goodbye to Caitlin and Thomas.

“Well, at least we won’t have to do any more acting now. Not that it was a problem," Douglas says, "I think I was rather splendid in the part.”

Martin chuckles and agrees.

“And I don’t have to feel guilty for lying to my family, because it turns out I wasn’t even lying after all!" Martin exclaims happily, but then looks uncertain. "I mean, I guess... m-maybe I wasn’t?”

Well, they certainly can't have _that._ So Douglas has to kiss him again, before  murmuring: “I think maybe you weren’t lying. _Darling_.”

Douglas laughs, Martin smiles, and a minute later they're walking back to the hall.

This time, it is Martin who takes Douglas’s hand.

 

END


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